Where to begin? I recently had my first and last experience ever, at this joke of a 'bar'. Myself and a group of friends went to Hemingway's last night because another friend of ours was playing with his band, Tomorrow People, at their 'open mic night'...as advertised by their website. It came time for the band to go on and the 'host' of the open mic night asked if the sound levels were too loud. Everyone was fine, except for one older gentleman who came up and asked if they'd turn it down a bit, so they did. The band was playing their 3rd or 4th song, when the same older gentleman came up and stopped the band in mid-song. He yells at them, while the entire bar is watching and somewhat in shock that someone would be so rude, ""TURN IT DOWN OR GET OFF THE STAGE!"" My friends and I then asked our server who that incredibly disrespectful individual was that just yelled at the band. After playing dumb, she admitted that it was in fact the owner of Hemingway's, Dave Mendelson. We were all appalled that the owner of an establishment would act in such a way to the people who are bringing him business. Of all the people in the bar, about 15 of us came to support our friends in the band and spend money to eat and drink at Hemingway's, and the owner acts as if the open mic night, that he has obviously reproved, is an annoyance. In addition, the band did not have control over the volume, the host of the open mic night was standing by the PA system and is the one who books the bands. Instead of making a fool out of himself and yelling at the band in front of the entire bar, the owner could have quietly gone up to the MC and asked him to turn it down. \r
On a related note, there's nothing 'Tropical' about this place, in either the look or atmosphere. They don't even have glasses or silverware. Instead we were drinking out of Styrofoam and plastic cups. Our food was served on plastic plates and we ate with plastic untensils. I think there's something to be said if your establishment can't even provide real glasses and silverware. Not to mention the food was ok, at best. I ordered the shrimp po-boy, it was definitely cold when I got it. \r
Oh yeah, and the wait staff all wear black and white striped shirts, like a referee would wear. I think Dave Mendelson's bar is having an identity crisis. Because every time I think of a 'tropical' getaway, I think of referees. \r
In short, I will NEVER return here. The only reason I gave this place one star is because giving them no stars was not an option.
Cons: The Owner
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